In a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, ‘holds office’; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.

— John F. Kennedy

The American people have spoken. The political leader they chose for the nation in this past presidential election was Donald J. Trump.

At the beginning of his inaugural address on January 20, 2025, President Trump proclaimed, “…my fellow citizens, the golden age of America begins right now.”

We are not certain whether President Trump, in proclaiming a “golden age,” was referring to his own age, the color of his hair, or of his skin.

Seriously, we believe that America was already in a “golden age.” As Mike Dolan of Reuters reported a few days after Trump’s address, “In many respects, Donald Trump inherited the golden age he claims to be ushering in. All he really needs to do is not screw it up.”

Our fear, based upon Trump’s performance since returning to the presidency, is that Trump will “screw it up,” and what the American citizens will get is a golden daze instead of forward progress in this golden age. The golden daze will be a state of confusion and uncertainty among the citizenry about what is being done and how it will benefit them.

To a certain extent, some of what Trump has done is understandable.

Trump’s initial executive orders, and immediate follow-up actions, in areas such as immigration and federal government reform are what many of the voters who cast their ballots for Trump demanded. But reducing the rising cost of living and improving their economic conditions, which was at the top of the list of demands for the majority of the working-class voters who supported Trump, has received scant attention.

Those citizens deserve better than that. They need to have their demands recognized and addressed. They should not have to exist in a golden daze of anxiety and bewilderment, wondering what will be done for them.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the demands at the top of the people’s list do not appear to be at the top of Trump’s list.

There is no official Trump’s list. But his initial executive orders/actions, some of the participants at his inaugural address, and his first presidency suggest what are high up on that list.

Near the top would be the settlement of past grievances — or what might be termed revenge and retribution. Examples of this include, but are not limited to: His stunning pardoning or commutation of all of those January 6 rioters who have been convicted of crimes. His removal of the secret service security protection of John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, his one-time allies, who Trump felt betrayed him. And of course, his trying to eliminate civil service positions, and/or fire civil service employees in those jobs, and replace them with his appointees.

The thrust of these actions is to transform the federal government to the Trump government. Call that government a monarchy. Call it an autocracy.

Call it a dictatorship. Call it whatever you want, the defining characteristics of the Trump government would be that it would be subservient and accountable to Trump and Trump only.

As the tech billionaires (Elon Musk of Tesla, Space X and X (formerly Twitter), Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Google) who had special seats behind the Trump family at the inauguration ceremony demonstrate, Trump has other things on his list.

These business leaders were there because of what their businesses and their money can do for him personally now, and what he can do for them and their businesses while he is in the Oval Office.

Finally, further down on Trump’s list are items related to his supporters for priorities such as elevating states’ rights, protecting gun rights, and restricting abortion rights. Which brings us back to the needs and priorities of the working-class.

During his campaign Trump put forward a number of ideas to improve the economy for the working class, such as: eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay; temporarily capping credit card interest rates; lowering the prices of gas and groceries; and replacing Obamacare with a better healthcare plan.

Will he deliver on those ideas and promises? We doubt it.

As we stated in a blog posted in December of 2024 after Trump’s election, “Given Trump’s performance during his tenure as the 45th president, it is likely that he may not do much to benefit the working class.”

His executive orders and administrative actions early in his tenure as the 47th president, such as the temporary freezing of trillions of dollars in grants and loans that support programs that deliver major benefits to the working class, reinforce our skepticism.

As indicated in our December blog, however, “Past may not be prologue.”

The Trump administration could put forward and implement a comprehensive plan to improve the conditions of the working class. A “concept of a plan” will not suffice.

If there is no recovery plan for the working class, the golden daze will persist. The question becomes what happens then?

Trump has demonstrated an exceptional ability to persuade and convince others that his construction of reality is the truth, in spite of facts and strong evidence to the contrary. He is a master of spinning what we would call “the golden haze,” in which things are seen in a much better and brighter light than actually exists.

If the “golden haze” prevails over the “golden daze,” there will be no consequence for Trump. If it does not, and the golden daze persists, Trump and his Trumpian colleagues will pay a price in the elections of 2026 and 2028, when the working class decides to invest its votes differently than they did in 2024.

(The author is an entrepreneur, civic and thought leader based in Washington DC. Views are personal)